The present invention relates to an outside recognition system configured to recognize the surroundings of a vehicle based on an image from a camera, and in particular to detect dirtiness adhered to the camera.
Technology to monitor the surroundings of a vehicle with an on-vehicle camera and output a warning to the driver of the vehicle and to automatically control the action of the vehicle, in order to prevent a vehicle from a collision to another vehicle and/or a person before it happens, when danger is detected is advancing.
With a system that includes the on-vehicle camera on the outside surface of the vehicle, dirt is likely to be adhered to the lens of the camera due to bad weather, dirt, dust, or the like. Due to such dirtiness on the lens, there is a possibility that a wrong warning, which causes lower safety, is outputted.
Accordingly, there has been practical implementation of a system that automatically detects dirt on the lens of the camera and sprays air or water, or the like, in order to remove the dirt from the lens of the camera.
For example, JP 2007-228448 A discloses a technology for detecting dirt on the lens of the on-vehicle camera.
JP 2007-228448 A indicates “it captures images of the surroundings of the vehicle by shooting apparatus installed on the vehicle to acquire information on objects within the view of the shooting apparatus such as signs and pedestrians or texture before executing the image recognition processing. Then, the objects and the texture within the view are recognized by the image recognition unit, and based on the recognized object shapes or the texture and, information of the objects and the texture obtained in advance, the distortion of the shape or texture of the recognized object and the degree of image blur are calculated. Based on the calculated distortion and the degree of image blur of the recognized objects and texture, the shooting environment including the presence of water drops or dirtiness, or mist, or lack thereof, on the lens is recognized.” (See abstract)